Virginia's Statewide Dropout Prevention Summit
October 28, 2008

Learning, Working and Living: Keeping Promises to Our Youth

STRAND 1

Engaging the Student, Engaging the Family: Going Beyond the School DoorThis strand focuses on effective practices involving schools and community partners, such as service organizations, nonprofit organizations, and faith-based organizations. Presentations highlight programs that provide support, such as mentoring and after-school programs, address alternative learning opportunities and academic supports, and create community partnerships in schools.

STRAND 2

Counteracting Loss: Making a Living, Making a DifferenceThis stand focuses on the effective programs initiated by schools, businesses, community colleges, and other organizations that provide opportunities for individuals at risk of dropping out, or who have dropped out, to prepare for achieving personal, academic, and career goals.

STRAND 3

From the State House to the School House: The Intentional and Unintentional Impact of PoliciesLegislative and administrative policies at the state and local level can promote persistence to graduation or have unintended consequences. Implementation within school divisions and schools can help students needing alternatives and supports to achieve or can work against their connections to school and the community. This strand provides information about pending and current policies of the General Assembly’s Commission on Youth, and the Board of Education. It also presents information about school division and school policies, such as the use of early warning indicators.

Using Early Warning Indicators of Dropout to Target Intervention

Early Warning Systems(PPT) – How to Use Data to Identify and Help Middle and High School Students at High Risk of Dropping Out.Dr. Ruth C. Neild, Research Scientist, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

The General Assembly: The Commission on Youth’s Studies of Alternative Education, Dropout Prevention, and Truancy